German investors quietly pursuing $554 bn US Desertec

Desertec is a 100GW supergrid of concentrated solar thermal collectors proposed for construction across the Saharan and Arabian deserts. Now 20 respected German companies are pooling resources and trying to make that vision into a reality. We reported last April that the project’s estimated cost was $400 billion US over three decades, but the German partners are hoping to cut the implementation time to a decade, and increase the price tag to about $554.53 billion, in part because of the thousands of miles of DC transmissions lines that would have to span northern Africa. Germany, while a relatively cloudy country, has become a leader in solar power, and this project could renewably power most of Europe by 2020. Participants include Siemens, Deutsche Bank, RWE, and E.ON. (Source: Business Green, June 17, 2009)